Jungkyu Lee 9y

Inside the undefeated teams

The 2014 college football season has been as unpredictable, with four unbeaten teams remaining, the fewest through Week 8 in the past 20 seasons. Florida State entered the season as the overwhelming choice as the No. 1 team, but few would have picked Ole Miss and Mississippi State as two of the final four unbeaten teams. The top-ranked Bulldogs were not even in the AP Top 25 until Week 5.

Below, ESPN Stats & Info looks at what each team has excelled at, and what might be an area of vulnerability.

No. 1 Mississippi State

W-L vs. current AP Top 25: 2-0

Best win: vs. Auburn

Best road win: at LSU

Key Stat: Quarterback Dak Prescott has been responsible for 23 touchdowns through his first six games. That’s one more than Tim Tebow had through six games for Florida in his Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2007, when he set the SEC record by being responsible for 55 touchdowns.

Team Strength: Dynamic quarterback play. Prescott is ranked first in the ESPN Heisman Watch, and with good reason. His team is No. 1 in the AP poll, and he has gained at least 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in four of six games this season. No other FBS quarterback has more than two such games.

Potential weakness: Secondary. Mississippi State is allowing 68 more passing yards per game than any other SEC defense. Big passing plays have been an issue: The Bulldogs have allowed the most completions (25) and are tied for the most touchdowns allowed (eight) in the SEC on passes thrown 15 yards or longer, despite playing one fewer game than most teams.

No. 2 Florida State

W-L vs. current AP Top 25: 2-0

Best win: vs. Notre Dame

Best road win: at NC State

Key Stat: Florida State is 7-0 but has not been dominant in its wins. The Seminoles have trailed at halftime of three games after never trailing in the second half of any of their regular-season games last season. Their chance of winning at halftime has been 65 percent (33rd in the FBS) after leading the nation in halftime win probability by a wide margin last season (86 percent halftime win probability in 2013).

Team Strength: Jameis Winston. He ranks second among active quarterbacks (behind Oregon's Marcus Mariota) with an 86.8 Total QBR since the start of last season (minimum five starts). Winston has excelled against the blitz, completing 69.7 percent of his passes with a Power 5-high 26 touchdowns since the start of last season.

Potential weakness: Rushing between the tackles. The Seminoles are averaging 3.5 yards per rush on designed runs between the tackles, 63rd out of 65 Power 5 teams. They ranked third on such rushes last season.

No. 3 Ole Miss

W-L vs. current AP Top 25: 1-0

Best win: vs. Alabama

Best road win: at Texas A&M

Key Stat: Bo Wallace leads all SEC quarterbacks in fourth-quarter completion percentage (73.1 percent), yards per attempt (13.4) and Total QBR (90.7). In part due to Wallace’s effectiveness, the Rebels have outscored their opponents by an FBS-best 8.4 points per game in the fourth quarter.

Team Strength: Menacing defense. The Rebels’ plus-19.2 defensive efficiency is on pace to be the best in the country in the past 10 seasons. They have forced at least two turnovers in six of their seven games this season, tied for the most in FBS.

Potential weakness: Rushing. Ole Miss is averaging 3.9 yards per rush, third-worst in the SEC. The Rebels' ball carriers have been hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on 39 percent of their designed rushes, the worst percentage in the SEC.

No. 23 Marshall

W-L vs. current AP top 25: 0-0

Best win: vs. Middle Tennessee

Best road win: at Akron

Key Stat: Marshall leads the nation in scoring margin (plus-30.9) and average in-game win probability (84 percent) but has played the third-easiest schedule in the FBS. The road does not get much harder for the Thundering Herd. They have the 102nd-ranked remaining strength of schedule, resulting in a 56.7 percent chance they will enter a bowl undefeated, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.

Team Strength: Offensive balance. Marshall ranks second to Baylor in the FBS in yards per game (574.9) and first in yards per play (7.8), and it has shown an impeccable balance. Marshall is the only FBS school that is averaging at least 275 passing yards and rushing yards per game.

Potential weakness: Discipline. Marshall is committing the fifth-most penalties per game (9.6) for the third-most yards per game (90.0). The Thundering Herd have been penalized for at least 50 yards in every game this season, one of four FBS teams (Colorado, Akron, Tulane) to have such a streak.

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